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Laptop Battery Power Ratings Explained


What do the power ratings mAh, Volts, Whr and Watts mean?

Milliamp Hours or mAh represents the amount of stored energy in your battery. The higher the mAh rating the longer a battery will last. Many of our batteries have higher mAh ratings than original brand batteries. These higher mAh batteries are still 100% compatible with your laptop. It just means the higher capacity battery will last longer than the original.

Watts measures the amount of energy a device uses. This rating is commonly found on your monitor, laptop or other devices that pulls energy from a battery source. Watt Hour or Whr is the amount of power used over a period of time (1 hour). 1 Whr is equal to 1 Watt of power used for an hour.

Voltage measures the volume of electricity that is delivered to your laptop. Many laptop makers have produced batteries that have differing voltage ratings. There are no compatibility issues if your laptop and laptop battery have different voltage ratings. We carry both 11 volt and 14 volt versions of the same battery in case you are unsure.

Most laptop chargers are rated at 19 volts. The extra voltage a charger has over a battery is so the charger can simultaneously power the laptop and charge the battery (if they had the same voltage rating the charger would only have enough power to run the laptop).

Cells Voltage / Cell Formula Nominal Voltage
1 cell 3.6V or 3.7V 1 cell x 3.6 or 3.7V 3.6V or 3.7V
2 cells 3.6V or 3.7V 2 cells x 3.6V or 3.7V 7.2V or 7.4V
3 cells 3.6V or 3.7V 3 cells x 3.6V or 3.7V 10.8V or 11.1V
4 cells 3.6V or 3.7V 4 cells x 3.6V or 3.7V 14.4V or 14.8